It says something about the state of Hollywood filmmaking when two of the summer’s best-written,
most incisive films about the challenge of strengthening family relationships without giving up
your career dreams were made by successful actors who shouldn’t have to beg.

First there was Jon Favreau’s
Chef, a labor of love that needed favors from Dustin Hoffman and others to be made. And
now there’s a wonderful film from Zach Braff, the star of
Scrubs, whose first film as a director was the winning
Garden State. Yet he needed a Kickstarter campaign to make
Wish I Was Here.

No matter how it was made, the result is what counts.
Wish I Was Here is a funny, touching movie that features one of Kate Hudson’s best
performances and a curmudgeonly good one from Mandy Patinkin.

Aidan (Braff) is an actor who has been trying to break through in Hollywood for years. His wife,
Sarah (Hudson), is the breadwinner, supporting Aidan’s dream and their two children. There’s a
sense that Aidan’s dreams are reaching a crossroads: At some point, he’ll either succeed or have to
give up.

Then there’s Aidan’s strained relationship with his father, Gabe (Patinkin), who basically
regards his son as an out-and-out failure. It is he who is paying for the kids’ tuition at a
traditional Jewish school.

When Gabe is told he has terminal cancer, the soul-searching shifts into high gear.

Plenty of funny bits are found — the family’s “swear jar” (conceived to teach the kids a lesson,
but Dad contributes most of the money); Aidan’s attempt at home-schooling his children after they’r
e pulled out of school — and some not-so-funny ones (an old rabbi on a Segway).

Despite some misses among the hits, Braff’s honest sentiment and performance win out.

Hudson is the big surprise. A decade ago, she was a modest box-office star in formulaic romantic
comedies; at 35, she is striking, and the comedic and dramatic depth she displays is the key to the
success of
Wish I Was Here.